Deriving his pseudonym from his penchant for philosophical discussion, Heavy possesses an interdisciplinary background that comprises technology, academia, and the arts. With a PhD in Humanities [ Intermedia Analysis ] from the Universiteit van Amsterdam, he has worked as both a university professor and a tech developer in Anaheim, Prague, and Saint Louis. Since 2007, Heavy has internationally presented his academic work, which explores augmented reality, art and semiotics in public space.

As a kind of synthesis between scholarly inquiry and emerging media, Heavy founded The Heavy Projects to investigate how the fusion of creativity and technology can uncover new modes of relaying ideas. Building upon existing technological and theoretical frameworks, Heavy creates innovative interfaces between digital design and physical worlds in ways that provoke the imagination and problematize existing styles of art, design, and interaction.